(CNN) - Independent candidate Eliot Cutler conceded the Maine governor's race to Republican Paul LePage on Wednesday after results showed the two separated by less than 8,500 votes.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting, LePage, currently the mayor of Waterville, garnered 38 percent of the vote to Cutler's 37 percent. Democrat Libby Mitchell was a distant third with 19 percent.FULL POST

Greenville, South Carolina (CNN) - With the midterm elections now in the rearview mirror, potential presidential hopefuls no longer have the cover of campaigning for congressional candidates when visiting key presidential nominating states.

Instead, their White House ambitions will be in plain sight during their travels - and these Republicans will be making a more direct case as to why they deserve the GOP nomination in 2012.FULL POST

13:56 p.m. ET – Obama rejected the contention that his policies are moving America in the wrong direction, citing the economic turnaround since he took office as proof but, in reference to an auto-related campaign analogy, adding that it could be argued "we're stuck in neutral."

13:51 p.m. ET – Obama called the legislative process of passing health care reform "an ugly mess," saying "that is something that I regret" but adding that "the outcome was a good one."

13:41 p.m. – Obama said he intends to meet with congressional leaders from both parties "in the next few weeks" to negotiate a compromise on extending Bush-era tax cuts scheduled to expire by the end of the year.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - When Republican Trent Lott sat down for lunch with Democrat Tom Daschle on Monday afternoon, mere hours before voters shellacked President Obama and his party in the midterm elections, it was more than just two former Senate gladiators getting together to reminisce about old times

Despite their many differences over the years, Lott and Daschle managed to find a way to work together during the bruising days of the Clinton and Bush administrations, where everything from impeachment to Iraq caused deep divisions between the parties.

(CNN) - President Barack Obama faces reporters Wednesday afternoon following a night that saw dramatic losses for his fellow Democrats in Congress and a late-night chat with the presumptive new Republican speaker of the House.

Obama's called Ohio Rep. John Boehner, the incoming speaker, at midnight Tuesday to congratulate him on the GOP takeover of the House of Representatives. The president told both Boehner and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell that he wants to work with them to "find common ground, move the country forward and get things done for the American people," the White House saidFULL STORY

(CNN) - Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele is crediting grassroots efforts and the involvement of state Republican Parties with fueling major GOP gains across the country, just hours after Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections.

"It has been a long time coming since we've had this taste of victory in our mouths," Steele said in a conference call with reporters, adding that Republicans were "humbled" by the opportunity to govern again.FULL POST

(CNN) - Republican Christine O'Donnell sounded a defiant tone the day after losing her Delaware Senate bid to Democrat Chris Coons, calling her loss a "symptom of Republican cannibalism."

"In other areas, where the establishment Republican didn't win their primary, the local Republican parties united right away. Solidarity goes a long way. Unfortunately, that never happened in Delaware," O'Donnell said during an interview on CNN's American Morning.FULL POST

(CNN) - If every end results in a new beginning, then the start of the next race for the White House begins now.

With the midterm elections barely behind them, the dozen or more possible contenders for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination no longer have to keep up the charade that all of their activity on the campaign trail over the past couple of months was solely about helping fellow Republicans this year and had nothing to do with the next race for the White House.FULL STORY